Left: Fuka Miyawaki explains her design for a Ferris wheel gondola at the Norbesa shopping and amusement park in Sapporo on August 17. Right: Miharu Yamamoto will talk about her design for the clock tower on August 17.
13:40 JST, September 4, 2024
SAPPORO — Two Ferris wheel gondolas designed by local students were unveiled and put into operation on August 17 at the Norbesa shopping and entertainment center in Sapporo.
From June to July, Norbesa invited art and design students in Sapporo to submit their original designs for two of the gondolas on the Ferris wheel atop the facility. Out of 25 designs submitted by students from three art and design schools in the city, those of Fuka Miyawaki, 19, a second-year student at Hokkaido College of Art & Design, and Miharu Yamamoto, 19, a first-year student at Sapporo Otani University, were selected.
Miyawaki’s design features the flora and fauna of Hokkaido, including the Ezoshika deer, the Shimaenaga long-tailed tit and the lilac, the symbolic flower of Sapporo.
Yamamoto was inspired by Sapporo’s famous clock tower for her design.
“I hope many people will take pictures [of the gondolas]”, Miyawaki said during the awards ceremony on August 17.
Yamamoto was also pleased, saying, “I am happy because I now have the valuable experience that my design has been used on a Ferris wheel.”
The Ferris wheel, which opened in 2006, rises about 250 feet (78 meters) above the ground. Since March, operators have begun several projects, including installing karaoke machines and playing recorded readings of ghost stories and urban legends in the gondolas.
